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Court Approves Serious Bid for Republic Assets

Serious Materials Inc. has received approval from the bankruptcy court and closed the acquisition of certain assets and primarily production equipment of the former Republic Windows & Doors plant based in Chicago. The company intends to reopen the plant for the manufacturing of its SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass.

Serious Materials also reports it has reached an agreement with the union that previously represented Republic's workers. It plans to bring back those workers as it moves forward and ramps up production.

“This is an important step in the process but there is a still a lot of work to be done,” says Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials. “We appreciate all of the support we have received from the community thus far and we are hopeful that we can quickly re-open the plant and get people back to work.”

Members of the United Electrical Workers Union, which attracted national attention when they staged a sit-in at the Republic plant last year, expressed great satisfaction with the Serious acquisition. “We are happy that the purchase of our former plant by Serious Materials has been approved," says Armando Robles, president of UE Local 1110. "Our members are ready to get back to work and make great energy efficient green windows for Serious. We look forward to working together to create green jobs at living wages.”

“We have all been working hard to get our factory re-opened since December 10, 2008. We are so glad this day has come,” adds Melvin Maclin, UE local vice president.

With the recent acquisition of Republic Windows and last month’s addition of Pennsylvania-based Kensington Windows, Serious Materials expects to increase its production this year by tenfold. The company also operates manufacturing plants in its home town of Sunnyvale, Calif., and Boulder, Colo. It recently rebranded its product lines under the SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass names.